The Fashionista Files
Page 32
“I had to babysit some fourteen-year-olds making ten thousand dollars a day and hear them complain!” he gossips. The models would whine that they were missing the prom or a date—normal teenage lives. “They never realized how special they were. This is a tough, tough industry. If you’re working and in demand, you have to be committed,” he said.
He was an editor at Mirabella and Marie Claire before starting his own production company, Trew Productions, where he now casts eight shows in New York, as well as the new LA Fashion Week and Bridal Week. And he also hosts lectures on modeling for a thousand to fifteen hundred wanna-be models at a time, and judged the Miss USA pageant!
In the business, there are four thousand working models and only thirty jobs per day. “We’re always looking for perfect shape, perfect skin, perfection. It’s an image,” he explains, adding that he sees one thousand five hundred wanna-bes a day when he is scouting and finds only twenty-four or so with promise.
One of his funny anecdotes: “I did this designer Atil Kutoglu— some fabulous Turkish designer. I told all the girls he used to work for Helmut Lang so they would walk in his show.”
Did he?
“No!” he says gleefully. “But that’s the business. You gotta do what you gotta do.”
In the name of “doing what you have to do,” he gave us catwalk lessons in order to perfect our sidewalk presence. (He did it for Joan Jett; he can certainly do it for us.)
“Modeling is in your head. You’re going out there to the most important editors, the most important magazines and newspapers. You’ve got to sell the clothes—no, you are the clothes! You’ve got to make it work! Make them want you! Make them want to be you!” was tip number one.
Second tip: “Feel the music. Walk to the rhythm. Be one with the beat. Don’t prance. Be a show pony, but don’t look like you’re trying to be.” Then, pause at the end of the runway, as if you’re saying, “Yeah, you want a piece of me,” swivel your hips to the side, pivot your feet, and turn around to go back to where you came from. “Leave them wanting more,” he said.
Easier said than done!
The Melissa!
The Melissa!
I like to slink, shuffle. As many have pointed out, I can’t even walk in the many pairs of four-inch heels I own. I have flat feet and a duck walk (toes pointed out). I strap on my five-inch Saint Laurent heels and look to Drew for guidance. “Can I do the thumb hook?” I ask, looping my thumbs on my belt loops.
“Whatever makes you the most comfortable!” he encourages.
The office in Soho, where we’re practicing, is filled with people on the phone. No one is looking at me, but as I begin to make my way across the room, from the racks of clothing to the big bay windows, the atmosphere is suddenly tense. Walking like a model is commanding the room to look at you, to make your presence known. I was struck with stage fright. I couldn’t do it.
“Shoulders up. Attitude, attitude,” Drew yelled.
After two attempts, he suggested I try it in sneakers! I go again. In Adidas, I’m much more on my game. I pull off the hip swivel. Left, right, I’m on fire. I imagine that the cameras are flashing and I’m dating Leo DiCaprio! I work it! Hooray!
Karen joins me on the “runway” and we high-five each other in the middle, just like we’ve seen real catwalk mavens do. It’s exhilarating. We’re actually having fun! This is what modeling is all about.
The Karen!
The Karen!
I actually thought the walk would be easy at first. I’m a flashy kind of girl. I like attention, I admit (must be because of some of the positive affirmation I lacked in childhood). I like to think I have the soul of an actor and that I can become anyone I want if I try real hard. Wrong! The second I begin my stride, I crack up. I cannot keep a straight face while my walk is being judged. I don’t have the most beautiful saunter to begin with. I drag my heels and tend to put most of my weight on the outer edges of my foot, as evidenced by the way all my shoes are worn down on the outside edge rather than in the center. I swing my arms ungracefully. And I have a bit of a forward shoulder posture, which, I’ve been told by more than one massage therapist, makes me look older than I am.
“You didn’t realize you’d have such a hard case on your hands, huh?” I say to Drew. He tells me to make a concerted effort to lift my feet more. At first I lift them so much, he laughs. “You’re not mountain climbing, remember.” Three more tries and I nail it. Then we focus on the shoulders. I put my yoga practice to work and do what I do when I’m in triangle pose—I melt my shoulder blades down my back. “Yes, you’re taller. I feel it,” he encourages. “Now, pretend you’re making eyes at the hottest guy across the room,” he suggests. I imagine my boyfriend across from me and put on my sexiest stare.
“Bigger steps and you have it,” Drew says. The second I take bigger steps, I drag my feet again and the whole walk is lost. “Attitude, attitude. Remember it’s all in your head. Everyone wants you. Everyone wants to be you,” he says.
Try as I may, I just can’t imagine such a thing. And we double air-kiss good-bye. As I leave the office, he shrieks, “That’s it!” I wasn’t even trying that time—and he says I’m 70 percent there: “That’s huge for a civilian!” He told me I have to perfect my attitude more. And I’ve been working on it ever since.
Walk This Way
Stride. Walk in time to the music—even if it’s just the sound track you hear only in your head.
Keep your hips loose.
Don’t swing your arms too much. Hooking a thumb into your jeans pocket is acceptable.
Shoulders back, but not parallel to the floor.
Don’t drag your feet—lift them but not too much. You don’t want to bend your knees so high that they hit your chin. Only Gisele can get away with that.
You are a diva! You are a goddess! Feel the energy of the crowd and let it inspire you.
End-of-runway poses:
The hip swivel—At the end of the runway, shift weight from one hip to the other. Then pirouette. Make sure your head is the last thing to turn.
The cold shoulder—This is the current favorite by designers. When you begin your pirouette, turn the shoulder first. Then turn your head.
The Tyson—Male models are usually instructed not to stop at the end of the runway, and just to keep walking, slowing down a bit at the end for the cameras, then turning away.
Supermodel, Work!
MODEL WALKS TO EMULATE
The Gisele!—High knees. The big tromp. Clomp, clomp, clomp like a Clydesdale pony.
The Carmen!—A little shake. A little jiggle. Lots of sex appeal.
The Erin!—Sideways head. Very sportswear.
The Shalom!—Old-school style, full-on swayback. Walking as if you’re the backslash key on a computer keyboard.
A FINAL NOTE FROM THE FASHIONISTAS
Now that you can walk the walk, talk the talk, and know how to get others to pay the drink bill if you’ve “forgotten your wallet at home”—it’s time to get out there and live life to the fashionable fullest! Being a fashionista means having a sense of humor and a desire to be outrageous and over-the-top, and never, ever staying home just because you have nothing to wear (unless, of course, the couch has never felt more comfortable). Clean out your closets, take a pair of scissors to your favorite T-shirt, and attack the sales, the thrift shops, and eBay with aplomb. Remember, even if you stumble on your four-inch heels, the fact that you pull yourself up and keep walking is the mark of a true fashionista.
Acknowledgments
We owe so many double-cheek air-kisses to so many chic, stylish people, it’s beyond. First of all, Allison Dickens, our genius editor. A bitch-and-swap party in your name is definitely in order—along with a mani-pedi date at Buff in Bergdorf Goodman! And Deborah Schneider, the most sophisticated agent on the planet. You are gorge! Thank you both for giving us a reason to overindulge at shopping malls, outlet stores, sample sales, thrift shops, and many boutiques around the country. Thanks to El
izabeth Lippman, our energetic photographer, who would lie down in the street just to get the shot right. Your shutterbug brilliance rocks—and plus, you look so cute in those hot-pink shoes.
We are so grateful to our dads, Bert de la Cruz and Alan Robinovitz. Thank you for your belief, encouragement, and the occasional clothing stipend. We love you.
Thanks to our siblings, who constantly support us and let us influence what they wear, and their families. Jason Robinovitz (you are very well trained and your Birkin knowledge should be commended), Francis de la Cruz, Steve, Christina, and Nicholas (a most stylish baby!) Green, Mom and Dad Johnston, John, Anji, Tim, Rob, Jenn, and Valerie. Thanks to our extended families, our aunts, uncles, and cousins, who never laughed at our outfits (well, not that loudly, at least)—that means all of the Robinovitzes, Ongs, Torres, Gaisanos, de la Cruzes, and Johnstons out there.
Todd, thank you for letting me Gucci you out. You are such a GQ man. And just as gorgeous dressed up as you are dressed down. I love you all chic and sleek or biker and tough. Either way, you rock my world.
Thanks to Mike Johnston for always, for everything.
And so much love to everyone who helped make our fashionista lifestyles and our book a reality: Alice Roi, Allison Newman at Frette, Amanda Schuon and everyone at Truth be Told PR, Andrea Victor, Anne Waterman, Avon’s amazing spa, everyone at Ballantine, especially Nancy Stevenson, Kim Hovey, Heather Smith, Avideh Bashirrad, Christine Cabello, Bacardi, Basia Irzyk, Bobbi Brown, Bonni Fuller, Brent Rimes, Campari, Caroline Suh (for all those tapered jeans freshman year!), Chrissy D (the British shopping guru . . . sort of), Danna Weiss, Diane von Fustenberg, Douglas Geller, Diana Gosendi, Dr. Victor, Edgardo de la Cruz (otherwise known as “Tito Ed!”), Elisa Jimenez, Gabriel de Guzman, Gina Dinisio, Helaine Schmier, Jaclyn Savar, Jaime Maser, Janice Dickinson, Jasmine Faustino, Jennifer Kim (for always lending a broke fashionista ten or twenty bucks when she needed it), Jen Weinberg, Jeffrey Kalinsky, Juicy Couture (Pam and Gela, we live in our monogrammed sweats!), Heidi Krupp, Karen Thorne, Kelly Cutrone, Kyristine Muldowney, Kim DeMarco, Kirna and Zabete, Laura Baddish, Lauren Weisberg, Leslie Stevens, Libby Callaway (without whom this book would not exist!), Levi’s, Michael Kors, Michael Musto, Michael Palladino (you are such a delight), Molly Kim (a.k.a. “Jean-Claude,” the Dachshund), Nicole Young, Punch & Judy, Melissa Comito at Fairchild Publications, Pamela Peckerman, Patrick McCarthy, Sam Firer, Shel Pink and everyone at Orly, Sally Narkis (our not-always-reasonable voice of reason and the best shopping partner in crime!), Sara Jaye Weiss, Simon Doonan, Stacy Kaplan, Stacey Mayesh, Steve Eichner, Steven Hall, Sue Devitt, Tammie Walker (for all of the Krispy Kremes that killed our thighs!), Target, Tartare, Teril Turner, Tiffany Dubin, Tristan Ashby, Tyler Rollins, Vegas (the fashionista dog), Volvo, Warren Tricomi, We Care, Whisper PR, Woodbury Commons.
And then there’s Phoebe Philo, Stella McCartney, Marc Jacobs, Karl Lagerfeld, Tom Ford, Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Jean Paul Gaultier, Nicolas Ghesquière, Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo, Christian Louboutin, and all of our favorite designers who have inspired us and helped add glamour, whimsy, and style to our lives.
Mwah! Mwah! J’adore!
About the Authors
On Mel (left): Filigrana earrings, cashmere sweater by Tse, leather-band wool trousers by Alvin Valley
On Karen (right): sweater with tie by Yves Saint Laurent, jeans by Levi’s
Hair: Dennis Gotsopoulos for Warren-Tricomi Salons Make-up: Brent Riens and Allison McGraine for Sue Devitt Studio Location: Studio 259
Melissa de la Cruz and Karen Robinovitz are the authors of How to Become Famous in Two Weeks or Less (Ballantine Books, 2003), which was optioned for development as a major motion picture by Walt Disney Studios and optioned for development as a reality television series by Universal Studios/Reveille Productions.
Melissa is the author of Cat’s Meow and The Au Pairs. Her work has been translated into many languages. She has written for Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Gotham, Hamptons, Teen Vogue, Glamour, Allure, the New York Times, and McSweeney’s. Her forthcoming works include the novel Fresh off the Boat and her essay “A Model Boyfriend” in the anthology Sex & Sensibility. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband.
Karen is a prolific writer who covers fashion, trends, style, celebrities, lifestyles of the rich and fabulous, and sex for Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, the New York Post, and Elle. She has contributed to the New York Times Style section, Details, Glamour, and In Style. She is a co-author, with Lara Shriftman and Elizabeth Harrison, of Fête Accompli! The Ultimate Guide to Creative Entertaining (Clark-son Potter), being released in 2004. She lives in New York City.
A Ballantine Book
Published by The Random House Publishing Group
Copyright © 2004 by Melissa de la Cruz and Karen Robinovitz
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.
Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random
House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
Ballantine and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
www.ballantinebooks.com
Library of Congress Control Number: 2004095332
www.randomhouse.com
eISBN: 978-0-307-41703-9
v3.0